Freezer Rack

ABSTRACT

Liquids are frozen and stored in a freezer in individual flexible sealable plastic bags by providing a storage rack comprising a frame having flat bottom and sides and a plurality of removable flat shelves which can be inserted into the frame to lie parallel to the bottom. The frame is placed into the freezer with the bottom and shelves horizontal with the bags on the shelves for freezing so that the liquid freezes with a flat bottom. The sides of the frame and the shelves are perforated with holes to allow penetration of cooled air within the freezer with the holes.

This application claims the benefit under 35 USC 119 (e) of Provisional application 62/037,357 filed Aug. 14, 2014 and of Provisional application 62/135,501 filed Mar. 19, 2015.

This invention relates to a freezer rack for placement in a freezer to contain and store liquids (or semi-liquids) in flexible freezer bags and to a method for storing liquids in a freezer including labelling.

Up to now no suitable arrangement has been provided for effectively storing liquids in a freezer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention there is provided a method for storing liquids in a freezer comprising:

storing the liquids in individual flexible sealable plastic bags;

providing a storage rack comprising:

a frame having at least a bottom and sides;

a plurality of shelves one or more of which is removable which can be inserted into the frame to lie parallel to the bottom;

inserting the frame into the freezer with the bottom and shelves horizontal;

placing the freezer bags on the shelves for freezing;

the bottom and sides of the frame and optionally the shelves being perforated with holes to allow penetration of cooled air within the freezer with the holes, that is the bottom and the top of the frame preferably do not have holes but all the shelves do,

and placing a bag containing liquid on the bottom and/or shelves so that the liquid freezes with a flat bottom.

Preferably there is provided on the shelves labelling space presented forwardly for receiving a label to identify the liquid in the bags thereon.

Preferably the method includes labelling the shelves to identify the liquids.

Preferably the method includes storing the liquid in the bags on the shelves.

Preferably the method includes removing some of the shelves after freezing is complete to store the bags directly on top of one another to reduce storage space.

Preferably the bottom and sides are perforated to allow cooling air to pass through the sides and the shelves which have holes.

Preferably the frame includes top and rear panels which are perforated to allow cooling air to pass

Preferably the frame includes a top locating tab arrangement to enable stacking of another rack on top of the first.

Preferably the shelves slide into slots in the sides.

Preferably the shelves include a flat front edge wider than the thickness of the shelf for receiving labels.

Preferably each shelf has a width of the order of 24 cms to receive a single bag across the full width or two bags side by side and a length of 20 cms which is suitable to receive the length of the bag.

The shelves are slightly tapered; they are 18.95 cm x 18.73 on the front end tapering to 18.4 at the back.

In some cases, after freezing is complete, the method includes turning the frame and shelves to a vertical orientation to store the bags therebetween. However it can be kept in the horizontal orientation so as to act both for the freezing action and for storage.

As a further alternative, after freezing is completed, the bags can be stored, with the rack removed for freezing further bags, with the frozen directly in side by side relationship with the flat sides in contact.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a storage rack for storing liquids in a freezer wherein the liquids are stored in individual flexible sealable plastic bags;

the storage rack comprising:

a frame having at least a bottom and sides;

a plurality of removable shelves which can be inserted into the frame to lie parallel to the bottom;

the frame being arranged to be inserted into the freezer with the bottom and shelves horizontal;

the shelves being arranged to receive the freezer bags on the shelves for freezing;

the bottom and shelves being perforated with holes to allow penetration of cooled air within the freezer with the holes arranged such that a bag containing liquid when placed on the holes freezes with a flat bottom;

the shelves having thereon labelling space presented forwardly for receiving a label to identify the liquid in the bags thereon.

The arrangement as described hereinafter thus provides a freezer rack system is manufactured with freezer suitable plastic and offers two functions. One is to provide rack system that accommodates a zipper lock closure freezer bag whereby the user can place food into the freezer bag, place it in the shelf to freeze in a flat format. The other, is to function as an organizer for the product frozen in the freezer bag. The system is made up of up to six, typically four, removable racks. Each of the racks, as well as the base unit, has small multiple holes to allow for complete ventilation that will allow air flow around bag to minimize the time it takes to freeze the food product. Each rack has a lip to accommodate a freezer label to identify the frozen food item stored in the rack. The rack system is designed to be used in a landscape position during the freezing process but can then be placed label side allowing for functionality in different freezer styles. Individual racks can also be removed to allow for maximum capacity storage once the products are frozen. The system also may have stacking ribs to accommodate additional units. For example a smaller unit of lower height may have stacking ribs whereas a higher version cannot be stacked and hence has no locating ribs or tabs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded isometric view of a rack according to the present invention for use in storing liquid in bags.

FIG. 2 is an isomeric exploded view showing a further embodiment where the frame is of reduced height and has only a single shelf at the top of the frame.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The rack 10 shown in FIG. 1 is arranged for storing liquids in a freezer F where the liquids are contained in individual flexible sealable plastic bags. The storage rack 10 comprises a frame 11 having a bottom 12 and sides 13 together with a top 14 and rear 15. The sides are formed with slots 16 for holding a plurality of removable shelves 17 which can be inserted into the frame 10 to lie parallel to the bottom 12. The frame 11 is inserted into the freezer F with the bottom and shelves horizontal and the freezer bags B are laid onto the shelves for freezing the liquid.

The sides and shelves area all perforated with holes 18, 18A to allow penetration of cooled air within the freezer. The holes in the shelves are arranged such that a bag B containing liquid when placed on the holes freezes with a flat bottom, as opposed to having ridges or bumps caused by the liquid diverging the bag to extend through the holes during the freezing process. For this reason the holes are preferably circular and have transverse dimension less than of the order of 0.5 inch. However slots can be used. The holes in the sides and optionally the rear can be larger since they do not act to contact the bags while they are contained.

The shelves are provided with a deep front edge 19 forming a flange depending from a main plane P of the shelf to provide a labelling space containing labels 20 presented forwardly for receiving a label to identify the liquid in the bags thereon.

In both FIGS. 2 and 3 the arrangement as shown can be manufactured with one or more of the shelves being free from perforations as these may not be necessary. The top, rear and bottom may be perforated or free from perforations.

In both FIGS. 2 and 3 the arrangement as shown can be manufactured with the labelling strip 20 on the flange 19 of the shelf being omitted so that the bag B is labelled instead.

FIG. 2 is an isomeric exploded view showing a further embodiment where the frame 11A is of reduced height and has only a single shelf 17A at the top of the frame where the top edges 13B of the side walls 13A terminate at an open top of the frame where the shelf 17A can sit on the top edge. In this way the bags B can be stored in this embodiment on the bottom 12A and on the shelf 17A.

The frame in FIG. 2 includes a top locating tab 2 on the top wall (not shown) arrangements to enable stacking.

The shelves are slightly tapered; they are 18.95 cm×18.73 on the front end tapering to 18.4 at the back and are arranged to only fit one bag size.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. 

1. A method for storing liquids in a freezer comprising: storing the liquids in individual flexible sealable plastic bags; providing a storage rack comprising a frame having at least a flat bottom and sides and a plurality of flat shelves one or more of which is removable which can be inserted into the frame to lie parallel to the bottom; inserting the frame into the freezer with the bottom and shelves horizontal; placing the freezer bags on the shelves for freezing; the sides of the frame and optionally the shelves being perforated with holes to allow penetration of cooled air within the freezer with the holes; and placing a bag containing liquid on the bottom and/or shelves so that the liquid freezes with a flat bottom.
 2. The method according to claim 1 including labelling the shelves to identify the liquids.
 3. The method according to claim 1 including storing the liquid in the bags on the shelves.
 4. The method according to claim 1 including removing some of the shelves to store the bags directly on top of one another.
 5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the bottom and sides are perforated to allow cooling air to pass.
 6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the frame includes top and rear panels which are perforated to allow cooling air to pass.
 7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the frame includes a top locating tab arrangement to enable stacking.
 6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the shelves slide into slots in the sides.
 7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the shelves include a flat front edge wider than the thickness of the shelf for receiving labels.
 8. The method according to claim 1 wherein each shelf has a width of the order of 18 to 20 cms to receive a single bag across the full width.
 9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the shelves are tapered toward the rear.
 10. The method according to claim 1 wherein each shelf has a length of the order of 20 cms.
 11. The method according to claim 1 including, after freezing is complete, turning the frame and shelves to a vertical orientation to store the bags therebetween.
 12. The method according to claim 1 including, after freezing is completed, storing the bags in directly side by side relationship with the flat sides in contact.
 13. The method according to claim 1 wherein the shelves are perforated with holes. 